AAPL Pain before the Greek elections

Monthly option expiration this week is a good example of max pain.

The Greek elections are 2 days away, and the "Grexit" is at stake. The volume on AAPL was low both Thursday and Friday. I interpret that as AAPL investors on the sideline, unwilling to risk the possible turmoil of the Greek elections.

Low volume means there's little influencing the strike price. So, hedge rebalancing due to the monthly maturity approaching and monthly contracts closing out was one of the few forces at work toward the end of this week.

By market open on Wednesday, max pain was 575. The stock price hovered around 570 toward the end of the week. There was little movement, even as stocks like Bank of America (BAC) and Facebook (FB) rallied Thursday and Friday.

Apple closed Friday on 574.13, which is extremely close to 575 by any measure. The 575 puts expired in-the-money, but at 87 cents a contract the option writers didn't break the bank.